April 2021 - Global Witness

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April 2021 - Global Witness
April 2021
April 2021 - Global Witness
CONTENTS
GROWING MOMENTUM ..................................... 2                     ADVERSE IMPACTS .......................................... 12

ALIGNING EU AMBITIONS .................................. 2                   LIABILITY AND ENFORCEMENT ....................... 14

THIS BRIEFING ................................................... 2          Civil Liability ..................................................... 14

                                                 A CASE STUDY                Civil and Administrative Liability..................... 14
ON CORPORATE POWER LEFT UNCHECKED...... 3
                                                                             Criminal Liability .............................................. 14
HUMAN RIGHTS & ENVIRONMENTAL DUE
                                                                             Key Requirements for Liability Provisions.......... 14
DILIGENCE .......................................................... 6
                                                                             Public Enforcement: National Competent
Beyond Standard Due Diligence ........................... 7                  Authorities ........................................................... 15
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT ........................... 8                         EU-Level Body...................................................... 17

SCOPE ................................................................. 9                                                    THE COST OF
                                                                             TAKING ON AN AGRIBUSINESS GIANT ............ 17
APPLICABLE STANDARDS .................................. 9
                                                                             ELUSIVE JUSTICE ............................................... 18
Human Rights ........................................................ 9
                                                                             THIS CANNOT WAIT ......................................... 19
Environment ........................................................ 10
                                                                             Endnotes .......................................................... 20
Good Governance ................................................ 12

GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING   APRIL 2021                            Holding Companies to Account: How a new EU law can help create a more sustainable future   1
April 2021 - Global Witness
GROWING MOMENTUM                                          supply chains and promote sustainable
                                                          development.
In April 2020, the European Commissioner for
Justice, Didier Reynders, publicly committed to           THIS BRIEFING
tabling a legislative proposal on sustainable
                                                                                                  key
corporate governance.1 The European Parliament
                                                          proposals for a robust human rights and
has since shown clear support for this initiative.
                                                          environmental due diligence obligation and
In March 2021, a large majority in the Parliament
                                                          corporate liability regime as part of a new EU
voted in favour of a legislative own-initiative
                                                          Directive on sustainable corporate governance.
report calling for new due diligence and
corporate accountability legislation.2                    It aims to inform ongoing EU legislative
                                                          discussions and to support the development of a
With a growing consensus amongst civil society,3
                                                          robust and enforceable law to ensure greater
the private sector4 and the wider public5 on the
                                                          accountability for all companies doing business
need for corporate accountability legislation, the
                                                          in the EU.
European Union (EU) has a clear mandate to
introduce a strong, enforceable law.
                                                          Our key proposals are:
ALIGNING EU AMBITIONS                                     > The new Directive must require all companies,
                                                            across all sectors - including finance - that are
to ensuring sustainable development,6 respect               doing                           ernal market to
for fundamental rights and freedoms,7 and a high            conduct human rights and environmental due
level of environmental protection.8 The new law             diligence (HREDD).
provides an opportunity for the EU to align the
                                                          > Mandatory HREDD will require companies to
core objectives laid out in the Treaties and the
                                                            identify, assess, prevent and mitigate their
ambitions of the EU Green Deal with the global
                                                            negative human rights, environmental and
impacts of Member States.
                                                            governance risks and impacts in their
The last five years has seen the introduction of            operations and value chains, monitor the
new laws in France and the Netherlands, further             effectiveness of the steps taken and publicly
proposals tabled in the Netherlands, Germany,               account for this process.
Switzerland and Norway and others still
                                                          > The HREDD process must incorporate
promised in the Netherlands and Austria.9
                                                            meaningful stakeholder engagement and a
With ad hoc legislative responses emerging                  requirement for companies to remedy harms.
across Europe, the introduction of robust EU-
                                                          > The law must create a robust liability regime
wide legislation for EU-based companies and
                                                            and strong enforcement mechanisms to hold
those doing business in the EU is an appropriate
                                                            companies accountable both when they cause
and timely development. Harmonisation of laws
                                                            harms and when they breach the due diligence
across the EU will provide greater legal certainty
                                                            requirements.
for companies and reduce distortions which lead
to unfair competition within the internal market.         > The liability regime should include
And the impacts will extend beyond the EU.                  administrative, civil and criminal liability. This
                                                            must allow victims of harm outside of the EU to
By catalysing a change in the way companies do
                                                            access EU courts to ensure that there is
business and creating mechanisms for
                                                            meaningful access to remedy for those most
accountability, this law can help clean up global
                                                            impacted by harmful business activities.

GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING   APRIL 2021         Holding Companies to Account: How a new EU law can help create a more sustainable future   2
The proposed legislative intervention from the EU                     them members of indigenous and Afro-
is long overdue and urgently needed. Global                           Colombian communities.14
Witness has recorded how, in pursuit of profit,
                                                                      Footage acquired by Global Witness shows how
corporate actions have led to significant and
                                                                      some of these people were violently forced out of
often irreversible harms to both people and the
                                                                      their homes - the scenes of a 2016 eviction in the
planet. One example such corporate abuses is
                                                                      Roche community show riot police dragging
seen in Colombia.
                                                                      women along the ground and loading them onto
                                                            A         trucks.15 This eviction was allegedly carried out
                                                                      using tear gas and metal projectiles, with
CASE STUDY ON CORPORATE
                                                                      bulldozers sent in to flatten people s homes.16
POWER LEFT UNCHECKED                                                  Cerrejón later stated that it regretted the events
Cerrejón is one of the world s largest open-pit                       of that day.17
coal mines, and the communities who live
alongside it are some of Colombia s poorest.10 For                    The mine is also profoundly hazardous. It emits
decades, they have been inhaling poisonous dust                       pollutants that are invisible to the human eye but
from the mine. Their water has been                                   can cause a multitude of health issues, ranging
contaminated by the toxic waste dumped in their                       from heart disease to cancer and premature
rivers.11 Meanwhile, the mine s owners BHP,                           births.18
Anglo-American and Glencore count among the                           According to a 2018 study in the Journal of
most profitable companies in the world.12                             Environmental and Public Health, over 336,000
A desert-like expanse of barren land, Cerrejón                        people are believed to have developed
covers 690 km² - more than half the size of                           respiratory complications that are directly
Istanbul.13 Reportedly 35 communities have been                       attributable to the mine, with over 400
displaced to make way for the mine, many of                           emergency hospital visits every year.19

2019. Cerrejón Coal Mine in Barrancas, La Guajira, Colombia. Nicolo Filippo Rosso/Bloomberg via Getty Images

GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING   APRIL 2021                     Holding Companies to Account: How a new EU law can help create a more sustainable future   3
Cerrejón is a leech on water too it consumes a              were initially directed at Angelica, but when she
staggering 24 million litres every day, which has           refused to stay silent about the mine s impacts,
reportedly caused 17 waterways to dry up.20 What            they moved onto her family too. At times she has
little water is left for local people is potentially        chosen to live apart from her children to protect
contaminated. In 2019, a water sample taken                 them.32
downstream from one of Cerrejó s dump sites
                                                            A colleague of Angelica s, Jakeline Romero, told
contained dangerous levels of mercury.21 That
                                                            Global Witness how her teenage daughter had
same year, the company admitted to having
                                                            received an anonymous phone call on her way
dumped 578 million litres of liquid waste into
                                                            home from school. Tell your family to take care
natural bodies of water.22
                                                            of themselves and of you. Because we are going
These health impacts are so severe they re being            to kill you, she was told.33
written into local people s DNA. A 2018 study
                                                            Threats against Cerrejó s opponents are
found that pollution from Cerrejón is damaging
                                                            reportedly common.34
local people at the cellular level, raising the risk
of cancer and chromosomal instability.23                    Cerrejón told Global Witness that it rejects any
                                                            accusation of being involved with paramilitary
In 2019, Colombia s Constitutional Court ordered
                                                            groups or being linked to any case of threats to
the mine s operating company to comply with
                                                            social or community leaders.35
health and environmental protection
requirements.24 This was the latest in a series of          EUROPE FANS THE FLAMES
decisions against Cerrejón by Colombia s
                                                            Europe may be thousands of miles away, but it is
Constitutional Court and Supreme Court.25 Legal
                                                            central to the Cerrejón fiasco. In 2019, most of the
cases about the harmful impacts of the mine on
                                                            26.3 million tonnes of coal exported from
communities date back to the 1990s.26
                                                            Cerrejón36 - worth around 1.2 billion37- was
The company announced it had addressed this                 shipped to the Mediterranean.38
latest ruling by striking a deal with a local
                                                            Cerrejó s three parent companies, are also listed
community for a series of improvements27 a
                                                            on the London Stock Exchange, with one
statement local indigenous leaders called
                                                            headquartered in the UK and one in
 fraudulent and lies 28
                                                            Switzerland.39 In addition, two Irish companies
A COMMUNITY PROPELLED INTO ACTIVISM                         are central to Cerrejó s profitability Dublin
                                                            based CMC-Coal Marketing sells and markets all
Angelica Ortiz said she became an activist
                                                            of the company s coal, and Ireland s state
because she didn't want other communities to go
                                                            company, the Electricity Supply Board has
through what she has.29 She is secretary general
                                                            purchased millions of tonnes of it.40
of the Association of Wayuu Women, a local
indigenous campaigns group that has opposed                 Despite both owning 33.3% stakes in the mine,
Cerrejón for years.30 But in the context of a mine          Glencore and Anglo American have tried to
that some say is backed and protected by                    distance themselves from the allegations
paramilitary groups, criticising Cerrejón poses its         surrounding Cerrejón. Both told Global Witness
own risks.31                                                that Cerrejón is an independently managed joint
                                                            venture. 41
The campaign against Angelica began in 2011,
with a series of threatening phone calls. She has           A LITANY OF ABUSES SPANNING DECADES
been watched and followed, and drones are
                                                            The mine is no stranger to public condemnation.
flown over her home. These intimidation tactics
                                                            In September 2020, Cerrejó s operations were

GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING   APRIL 2021           Holding Companies to Account: How a new EU law can help create a more sustainable future   4
denounced by several prominent UN human                  the mine site without any prior consultation.
rights experts.42 One of them, the UN Special            Some consultations have happened, she said, but
Rapporteur on Human Rights and the                       only after legal action was taken against
Environment, said that the case was, one of the          Cerrejón.50
most disturbing situations he had encountered
                                                         By that time of course, the damage had been
during his time in post.43
                                                         done.
Some months later, in January 2021, the Global
                                                         LEGISLATIVE RESPONSES
Legal Action Network (GLAN) submitted a series
of complaints with the OECD calling for the              Multinational companies shouldn t be allowed to
mine s closure the latest in a series of attempts        hide behind subsidiaries and supply chains -
to seek justice.44 But to this day affected              human rights and environmental catastrophes
communities still lack effective remedy for a            like those triggered by the Cerrejón mine will
litany of abuses spanning decades.45                     never abate if the corporations that profit from
                                                         them aren t held accountable.
The Cerrejón case typifies how corporations
consider themselves immune from laws designed            The proposals outlined in this briefing call for
to protect people and the environment. Cerrejón          new legislation that would legally mandate more
has repeatedly dodged accountability, despite a          responsible business conduct, and hold
series of judgements from Colombian courts and           companies liable for human rights violations or
a 2020 report by the governmental auditing body          environmental damage. This could help to
the Controller General that confirmed Cerrejón           change lived realities for people affected by
was not compliant with the Colombian                     harmful business activities around the world.
environmental regime. 46 Despite this, the
company maintains that it operates in
compliance with the law and applicable
standards 47

                          mpany to
sit down with all of the
communities that have been
evicted, have been uprooted, and
have lost their water sources. We
have to figure out how to remedy
all of this. And who better than the
communities themselves to say
how they want to be compensated
or how they want harms to be

Angelica Ortiz, Association of Wayuu
Women, March 202148

In March 2021, Global Witness introduced
Angelica Ortiz to the European Commissioner for
Justice, Didier Reynders.49 She explained to him
that many communities had been displaced from

GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING   APRIL 2021        Holding Companies to Account: How a new EU law can help create a more sustainable future   5
HUMAN RIGHTS &                                           actual impacts or potential adverse impacts
                                                                                              including
ENVIRONMENTAL DUE DILIGENCE
                                                         workers and industrial relations, environment,
Voluntary measures and self-regulation have              bribery and corruption, disclosure and consumer
failed to change harmful corporate behaviour                        53
                                                                       This has clarified that due diligence
and improve the outcomes for affected                    in this context, extends beyond adverse human
communities or the environment. The new law              rights impacts. Consistent with this, HREDD in the
must require companies to address their adverse          new law should cover this broader application.
risks and impacts on human rights, the
environment and good governance through the
process of human rights and environmental
                                                         KEY TERMS:
due diligence (HREDD).
                                                         Business relationships should be defined as direct
HREDD is a continuous process that requires
                                                         and indirect relationships that a company has
companies to identify and assess their actual and
                                                         with its business partners, entities in its value
potential adverse impacts, take action to prevent
                                                         chain and other State or non-state actors that it is
or mitigate them, monitor the implementation
                                                         linked to through any of its operations, products
and effectiveness of the steps taken and then
                                                         or services.54
publicly account for it all. Related to this,
companies have a responsibility to ensure that           Value chain refers to all activities that add value,
victims have access to effective remedies when           converting any form of input into an output.55
there is an adverse impact.                              Value chain
                                                         activities, operations, business relationships and
The process of human rights due diligence was                                                   56
                                                                                                   and
first introduced in the UN Guiding Principles on
                                                         with which [the company] has a direct or indirect
Business and Human Rights (UNGPs)51 and the
                                                         business relationship and which either (a)
OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
                                                         supply products or services that contribute to
(OECD Guidelines).52 T
                                                         [its] own products or services, or (b) receive
Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct has
                                                         products or services from the [company] 57
since confirmed

GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING   APRIL 2021        Holding Companies to Account: How a new EU law can help create a more sustainable future   6
To be effective, mandatory HREDD under the                         well-resourced, profitable corporate actors
new EU Directive must:                                             and the affected people and communities
                                                                   that are impacted by their actions.
>    Cover actual and potential adverse
     impacts that a company causes,                         As an inherently proportionate and context-
     contributes to or is directly linked to                specific process, HREDD will require companies
     through its business relationships, in line            to take measures that are proportionate to and
     with the UNGPs and the OECD Guidelines.58              commensurate with their size, context and the
>    Cover the                                              severity of their risks and impacts, among other
     value chains.                                          factors.
     beyond their own operations, closest
     relationships or first tier suppliers. In many         Beyond Standard Due Diligence
     cases, the worst harms occur well beyond the           HREDD goes beyond the standard due diligence
     first tier of suppliers and often take place in        that companies usually undertake in relation to
     host, producer and manufacturing countries.            specific projects, actions or investment decisions.
     HREDD requirements must therefore ensure               There are three key differences:
     that companies are effectively carrying out
     due diligence across this full range of                >      HREDD is a continuous and ongoing process
     relationships.                                                rather than a one-off action.
>    Be an ongoing and continuous process, the              >      International standards for responsible
     main aim of which is to prevent harms                         business conduct such as the UNGPs and
     from occurring as a result of business                        OECD Guidelines require all companies to
     activity. In order to be effective, HREDD                     conduct HREDD to effectively manage their
                                                                   adverse human rights, environmental and
     operating practices, business practices and                   governance risks and impacts, rather than
     decision-making processes. This will range                    allowing companies to decide whether or not
                                                                   to do due diligence on a case by case basis.
     supplier relationships to its decisions to
     expand an existing project or enter a new              >      HREDD focuses on the impact on and the
     operating context.                                            risk to the rights holders, the communities
                                                                   and the environment rather than the impact
>    Require stakeholder engagement on an                          on and/or risk to the company itself.
     ongoing basis. Such engagement must be
     integrated into all parts of the due diligence
     process and is key for ensuring that affected
     people and communities are consulted and
     are involved across operations and different
     stages of projects. This includes before
     business activity begins as well as when
                                                                            the likelihood of adverse
     harms occur, and remediation is required.                                impacts on people, the
     Globally, indigenous communities face                             environment and society that
     increasing threats and marginalisation. Their                  enterprises cause, contribute to,
     rights including the right to free prior and                       or to which they are directly
     informed consent (FPIC) must be respected.
                                                                      linked. In other words, it is an
>    Require the company to provide effective                              outward-facing approach
     remedy for victims of corporate harms.
                                                                                              to risk
     Remedy is an essential part of justice and
     accountability. In practical terms, it will also                  OECD Due Diligence Guidance, 201659
     help to reduce the power imbalance between

GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING   APRIL 2021           Holding Companies to Account: How a new EU law can help create a more sustainable future   7
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT                                     for engagement on an ongoing basis, especially
                                                           with key stakeholder groups. Companies should
Meaningful stakeholder engagement is crucial
                                                           share information on the plans, implementation
throughout the due diligence process.60 It should
                                                           and monitoring of measures to manage their
form an integral part of HREDD, taking place at
                                                           actual and potential negative impacts. Such
every phase of the HREDD process61 and
                                                           information should be shared in an accessible
throughout the duration of the project, business
                                                           format that is appropriate to the context
activities, operations and/or business
                                                           including considerations of language, literacy
relationship. This includes efforts to assess or
                                                           and culture of the stakeholder group(s).
implement remediation measures. Stakeholder
engagement as part of HREDD is different to                Stakeholders may already be marginalised or
engagement done by the board at designated                 disadvantaged individuals or groups; they may
times such as when setting sustainability targets.         also be physically, financially, spiritually or
                                                           otherwise dependent on the land or natural
 Meaningful stakeholder                                    resources involved in a project. Mechanisms for
engagement is characterised by                             stakeholder engagement must always seek to
two-way communication and                                  address the inherent power imbalance between
depends on the good faith of the                           the company and the affected persons or
participants on both sides.                                groups.67
OECD, 201162                                               Engagement processes should also aim to
                                                           understand how existing contexts and or
The OECD Due Diligence Guidance also confirms
                                                           vulnerabilities may create disproportionate
that stakeholder engagement must be an                     impacts on certain groups. For example, women
ongoing process.63                                         often hold different positions and responsibilities
example, which involve regular meetings with
                                                           in the community to men. There is evidence that
stakeholders are a way to share information,
                                                           women human rights, land and environmental
perspectives and build trust.64 Engagement with
                                                           defenders face different forms and higher levels
stakeholders before and during the course of the           of threats and violence, including gender-based
project or business activity allows the company            violence.68 In 2020, Global Witness reported that
to understand the perspectives of those who may            over 1 in 10 land and environmental defenders
be affected by their decisions and activities. The
                                                           who were killed, were women69 while the
company may also benefit from this input, for              Business and Human Rights Resource Centre
example, by pre-empting and helping to avoid               reported that between March to September 2020
potential conflicts.                                       during the Covid-19 pandemic, almost a quarter
It must involve all persons or groups that are             of attacks against human rights defenders were
directly, indirectly or potentially affected by the        women.70 Special attention must be paid to
activities and experts should also be consulted            implementing a gender-based approach to
when relevant.65 Additional safeguards may be              ensure the safe and equal participation of women
needed since those who participate in                      in consultative and decision-making processes.
engagement processes, including human rights,
                                                           Finally, the right of indigenous peoples and
land and environmental defenders may be
                                                           communities to free prior and informed consent
targeted or face criminalisation for speaking out
                                                           (FPIC) is paramount and must be respected. FPIC
against harmful commercial projects.66                     allows these communities to give or withhold
Companies should be forthcoming with                       consent to projects which may affect them, their
information and there should be opportunities              land or ancestral territory. This is protected in the

GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING   APRIL 2021          Holding Companies to Account: How a new EU law can help create a more sustainable future   8
UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous               >      General Data Protection Regulation
Peoples,71 the Convention on Biological                         (2016/679), which applies extraterritorially to
Diversity72 and ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous                companies offering goods and services within
and Tribal People.73                                            the EU see Article 3; and

                                                         >      Directive on unfair trading practices in
SCOPE                                                           agricultural and food supply chains
All companies, regardless of their size can have                (2019/633) which also creates obligations for
severe negative human rights and environmental                  companies based outside the EU see
impacts through their operations and value                      Articles 1 and 2.
chains. So too, every company may face risks of          Small and medium sized companies (so called
bribery or corruption.                                    SMEs ) make up the bulk of EU companies and
                                                         will therefore make a significant contribution to
The Directive should therefore apply to EU-based
                                                         the success of the new legislation. In addition,
businesses as well as all other companies placing
                                                         SMEs may cause, contribute to or be directly
products or services on the        internal market
                                                         linked to human rights and environmental abuses
or otherwise carrying on business in the EU,
                                                         or corruption, with some SMEs even operating in
regardless of their sector. This also includes the
                                                         high-risk sectors. SMEs must therefore be within
finance sector.74
                                                         the scope of the new Directive.
Global Witness has shown how the financial
                                                         HREDD is inherently proportionate and context
sector is often complicit in human rights and
                                                         specific. A 2020 study published by the European
environmental harms. Our analysis of the
                                                         Commission confirmed that the costs associated
financing of six agribusiness companies linked to
                                                         with implementing HREDD would not be overly
the destruction of climate critical forests in the
                                                         burdensome for companies.76 In addition, there is
Amazon, Congo Basin and Papua New Guinea
                                                         evidence that there are clear benefits to
found that EU-based financial institutions were
                                                         conducting HREDD.77
one of the main sources of funds and had backed

                                                         APPLICABLE STANDARDS
between 2013 and 2019.75
                                                         T
All companies established, domiciled or doing                                                 t human
business in the EU must be required to undertake         rights, the environment (including climate), and
HREDD, which has the primary aim of preventing           principles of good governance. As noted above,
negative impacts. This is in line with the UNGPs         this will include a requirement for companies to
and OECD Guidelines which clarify that all               conduct HREDD across their operations and value
companies have a responsibility to respect               chains. The Directive should set out applicable
human rights, and that the standards for                 standards for business as outlined below.
responsible business conduct which cover
environmental protection and good governance,            Human Rights
apply to all companies.                                  Companies must be required to respect all
                                                         internationally recognised human rights as
Precedents for EU legislation which applies to a
                                                         established in the UNGPs and OECD Guidelines.
wide cross section of companies include:
                                                         The new EU Directive should aim for the highest
>    Timber Regulation (995/2010) which relates          standard of human rights protections. Strong
     to products placed on the internal market
                                                         human rights standards help to provide better
     see Article 2(b);
                                                         legal protections for the most vulnerable groups,

GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING   APRIL 2021        Holding Companies to Account: How a new EU law can help create a more sustainable future   9
who are disproportionately impacted by harmful
corporate activities.                                                                    and in case of conflicting
                                                                                                82

                                                                     standards, companies should find ways to
All human rights are interdependent, interrelated                    honour the principles of international human
and indivisible meaning that the fulfilment or full                  rights law.83 The UNGPs and OECD Guidelines
enjoyment of certain rights depends on the                           both affirm that international human rights
others. Therefore, it is not possible to include                     law must remain the anchor for applicable
some while excluding others especially as there is                   standards for business.84
also no hierarchy of human rights.
                                                              Environment
Instead, the law must adopt a holistic and                    The OECD Guidelines include environmental
inclusive approach to human rights protections                protection as an important component of
which incorporates the standards included in:                 responsible business conduct.85 In addition,
                                                              companies must be required to respect the
>    The international bill of rights,78 customary            environment to achieve the objectives on
     international law,79 international
                                                              environmental protection included in the EU
     humanitarian law, regional human rights
                                                              Treaties                            mitments
     treaties80 and other instruments such as
     declarations, guidelines and principles                  under the Paris Agreement and the ambitions of
     adopted at the international level.81                    the European Green Deal.86

>    International labour law including ILO                   Several factors need to be taken into account
     Conventions, the ILO Declaration on                      when establishing applicable environmental
     Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.               standards. In contrast to the field of human
                                                              rights, there is no comprehensive body of
>    International human rights law, including the
     standards and legal protections for                      international law or standards on the protection
     marginalised and vulnerable groups such as:              of the environment. In addition, international
     Indigenous and Tribal Peoples; migrant                   environmental law generally creates obligations
     workers; women and girls; children; gender               for States, with many instruments focusing on
     non-conforming people; human rights,                     specific geographical areas.
     environmental and land defenders; and
     people with disabilities.                                The new Directive must therefore:

>    The Directive should also refer to the human             >      Incorporate key principles of international
     rights standards in national laws as                            and EU environmental law. In particular, the
     applicable standards where these exceed the                     principle of prevention, the precautionary
     protections afforded in international human                     principle, the principle of sustainable
     rights law. Where national laws fall short,

                                       KEY ENVIRONMENTAL LAW PRINCIPLES

>    Prevention: focus on protecting the environment and preventing harm first, rather than
     remedying it given the long term and often irreversible impacts of harms.

>    Precaution: measures should be taken to prevent environmental harm where there are threats of
     serious or irreversible damage, even in the absence of scientific certainty about the impact

>    Sustainable development: resources should be used sustainably to meet present needs and
     ensure that future generations can meet their needs

>    Polluter pays: the polluter should bear the costs of the pollution they caused.

GLOBAL WITNESS BRIEFING   APRIL 2021             Holding Companies to Account: How a new EU law can help create a more sustainable future   10
development and the polluter pays principle            >      Refer to other environmental standards such
     should be treated as indispensable.                           as those in EU law and national law as a
                                                                   starting point. However, national laws often
>    Incorporate international environmental law                   fail to provide adequate levels of protection.
     as applicable standards for companies. In                     A 2020 study on climate change legislation
     the case of international law instruments                     found that most countries focus on sector
     such as the Paris Agreement Under the                         specific interventions rather than developing
     United Nations Framework Convention on
     Climate Change (Paris Agreement) and the                      create a unifying institutional structure to
     Convention on Biological Diversity, the                       reduce greenhouse gas emissions or address
     requirements can and should be translated                                                            88
                                                                                                             With
     into business obligations (see below). This                   such gaps and variations persisting, the new
     approach was confirmed by the Dutch                           EU law must include strong, clear provisions
     National Contact Point established under the                  to define adverse environmental impacts and
     OECD Guidelines in a 2019 statement.87                        require the application of key principles of
>    Adopt broad definitions for the environment                   environmental law.
     and environmental impacts to ensure                    >      Require companies to measure their adverse
     adequate protection of the environment. This                  environmental impacts.89 The new law or
     should incorporate an indicative, non-                        supplemental instruments must provide
     exhaustive list of adverse environmental                      guidance on standards and modes of impact
     impacts including climate change, air, land                   assessment.
     and water pollution, use and disposal of
     hazardous substances, the production of                >      Include both direct and indirect emissions in
     waste, deforestation and other damage to or                   requirements for companies to measure,
     loss of ecosystems, biodiversity, habitats and                reduce and mitigate their adverse climate
     species. These definitions and lists should be                impacts. In particular, it should include
     developed in consultation with stakeholders                   Scope 1 (direct emissions from owned or
     and should leave room to accommodate the                      controlled sources), Scope 2 (indirect
     consolidation and development of this area                    emissions from the generation of energy that
     of law.                                                       is purchased and used by the company) and

       TRANSLATING INTERNATIONAL LAW INTO BUSINESS OBLIGATIONS: PARIS AGREEMENT

>    Require companies to:

>    Measure their Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

>    Reduce their total emissions in line with 1.5°C pathways. This must prioritise absolute emissions
     reductions in the near-term and limit reliance on carbon offsetting and carbon dioxide removal
     technologies.

>    Commit to updating GHG emissions reduction targets at intervals, in line with the best available
     science.

>    Monitor the effectiveness of the actions taken to reduce their GHG emissions.

>    Assess the impacts of their actions on efforts to ensure a just transition.

>    Apply key environmental law principles in the development of their environmental strategies.

>    Report on the steps that they have taken and the effectiveness of these.

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Scope 3 (all other indirect emissions                    representatives, distributors, contractors and
     occurring in                            )
     greenhouse gas emissions.90                              also                                    98

                                                              Together these provide a firm basis for
Good Governance
                                                              introducing a due diligence requirement for risks
Companies must also be required to assess,
                                                              of bribery throughout the corporate structure
address and communicate publicly on their
                                                              and entire value chain.
adverse impacts on good governance as part of
HREDD. EU Member States have ratified                         Preventive measures against corruption should
international agreements that prohibit                        be integrated into the due diligence duty for
corruption and bribery, and prescribe good                    companies under the new EU Directive.99 For this,
governance standards that should be adopted by                the applicable standards should be developed
companies. These include the UN Convention                    based on existing instruments as outlined above.
against Corruption;91 the OECD Convention on                  However, this must complement rather than
Combatting Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in             substitute the urgent and necessary efforts to
International Business Transactions;92 and the                                        -corruption legal
Council of Europe Civil Law Convention on                     framework and increase levels of implementation
Corruption.93 Along with other existing                       and harmonisation across Member States.100
international standards and guidance94 they
provide a strong basis for establishing applicable            ADVERSE IMPACTS
standards for good governance in the new                      The Directive should set out what would
Directive.95                                                  constitute adverse or negative human rights,
                                                              environmental (including climate) and
Other components of the                 -bribery
                                                              governance impacts.
framework such as the OECD Guidelines for MNEs
and the Recommendation for Further Combatting                 In the case of human rights, an adverse impact
Bribery of Foreign Officials in International                 occurs when the ability to enjoy the right is
Business Transactions96 provide further support               reduced or removed.101
with prescribing applicable standards on good
governance risks and impacts.                                 For adverse environmental impacts, a non-
                                                              exhaustive list should be included in the new
For example, Chapter VII of the OECD Guidelines               Directive, as noted above. For each of these
for MNEs sets out the actions that companies                  impacts, the scope should include actual or
should take in response to risks of bribery. The              potential impacts, whether temporary or
Recommendation (relating to combatting bribery                permanent and of any magnitude, duration or
of foreign public officials) clarifies that bribery           frequency.102
should be prohibited whether it is done directly
or through intermediaries.97 Annex II of the                  Such a scope would make all companies by virtue
Recommendation, adopted by the OECD as Good                   of their carbon footprint responsible for an
Practice Guidance in 2010, further specifies that             adverse climate impact. Therefore, as a subset of
measures designed to prevent and detect foreign               environmental impacts, adverse climate impacts
bribery should extend beyond directors, officers              for business should be assessed in line with the
and employees. Rather, it should include all                  goals of the Paris Agreement. The Directive must
controlled entities such as subsidiaries and                  prioritise the near-term reduction of absolute
                                ect to contractual            emissions rather than the setting of net zero
arrangements, to third parties such as agents and             targets for decades from now when assessing
other intermediaries, consultants,

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Kuching, Malaysia 16 MAY 2015. Deforestation. Photo of tropical rain forest in Borneo being destroyed to make way for oil palm
plantation. Rich Carey/Shutterstock

                                     or their                        and human rights in local communities.
responses. Net zero targets have been used to                        Corruption also often exacerbates or expedites
maintain the status quo rather than take effective                   human rights and environmental harms.
action against climate change.103 Provision on
                                                                     Finally, human rights abuses and environmental
climate impacts will also need to account for
                                                                     damage frequently occur together. Global
future scientific developments.
                                                                     Witness has reported extensively on how human
Adverse governance impacts will include                              rights abuses including displacement, threats
corruption and bribery in line with international                    and killings of land and environmental defenders
law prohibitions on these practices as well as                       often occur in the shadow of polluting or
grand corruption, petty corruption, small bribes                     environmentally destructive commercial activity
or facilitation payments and business to business                    such as mining and large-scale monocrop
corruption.104                                                       agriculture.106

Often business activities result in interrelated or
simultaneous adverse impacts. For example,
negative impacts on the climate which have
contributed to climate change, also result in
negative impacts on a range of human rights
including the right to life, health, food, water,
sanitation and development.105 Similarly,
corruption may lead to or facilitate commercial
activity that negatively impacts the environment

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LIABILITY AND ENFORCEMENT                                   Criminal Liability
Strong mechanisms for enforcement and liability             > for a failure to prevent serious human rights
are indispensable elements of the forthcoming                 abuses or severe environmental damage that
law which must include effective, proportionate               rises to the level of environmental crimes.
and dissuasive sanctions.                                   > for repeated non-compliance with the due
Voluntary measures have neither changed                       diligence duty.

                                                            EU Member States have existing international
accountable for their actions. Ten years after the
                                                            obligations on the prohibition and prevention of
introduction of the UNGPs and the revision of the
                                                            corruption and bribery which require the
OECD Guidelines that included human rights,
                                                            imposition of effective and dissuasive sanctions
much remains the same. Several studies have
                                                            (including criminal penalties) against legal
shown that most companies have not taken
                                                            persons for these offences.109 This must be
effective action to address the human rights
                                                            affirmed in the new Directive since
violations and environmental harms including
                                                            implementation across EU Member States
climate change, that are occurring in their
                                                            remains low.110
operations and value chains.107 A 2020 study on
due diligence requirements through the supply
chain published by the European Commission,
                                                            Controlled companies should include those which
found that only 16% of the 334 business
                                                            are economically dependent on the relationship.
respondents surveyed were undertaking due
diligence which took into account human rights
and environmental impacts across the entire
                                                            Key Requirements for Liability
value chain.108                                             Provisions
                                                            The proposed model for liability will help to
The Directive should therefore provide for a                create routes to remedy for victims of corporate
model of liability that applies as follows:                 abuse, catalyse the necessary changes in
                                                            business conduct and end the prevailing lack of
Civil Liability                                             corporate accountability for the harms resulting
> for human rights harms that a company, or any             from business activities. This subsection sets out
  company that they control or have the ability             ten key requirements to ensure that liability and
  to control, has caused or contributed to.                 enforcement provisions are effective.

> for human rights and environmental harms                  1. Both actions and omissions may form the
  that a company is directly linked to through its             basis for liability. This is important to prevent
                                                               the creation of perverse incentives for
  business relationships, unless it can show that
                                                               inaction from companies.
  it has taken all reasonable measures and
  exercised due care to prevent these harms.                2. The Directive must expressly indicate that
                                                               successful implementation of HREDD will
Civil and Administrative Liability                             not automatically absolve companies from
> for environmental harms that a company, or                   liability for harms. Instead, liability will need
  any company that they control or have the                    to be assessed on a case-by-case basis. This
  ability to control, has caused or contributed to.            will consider factors such as the extent to
                                                               which the measures in place were designed
> for breaches of the due diligence duty or                    and implemented to prevent the harm(s)
  failure to carry out adequate human rights and               from occurring.
  environmental due diligence.
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3. The Directive must establish joint and                        peculiarities of transnational litigation.111 In
   several liability for both human rights and                   addition, in some instances, particularly in
   environmental harms that result from                          the case of environmental or climate harms,
   corporate activity. It should further clarify                 the impact may not be evident for several
   that the liability of one company (be it a                    years.
   parent, controlling, supplier or
   subcontracting company) will not preclude              9. Liability provisions must be established
   or replace the liability of another.                      without prejudice to existing or future
                                                             liability regimes. This will confirm that these
4. Neither administrative liability nor                      provisions will not be weakened or
   criminal liability can substitute for civil               undermined by subsequent legislation.
   liability. Instead, these systems should be               Article 3.2 of the Environmental Liability
   viewed as complementary. A key reason for                 Directive (2004/35/EC) provides an example
   this is that civil liability offers remedies              of such a provision.112
   directly to those who are affected. For
   example, court orders in civil cases may               10. Provision for financial support for victims
   prohibit or stop the harmful conduct, require              should be included. Litigation invariably
   restitution and/or provide financial                       involves high costs to claimants which are
   compensation to victims. In contrast,                      often prohibitive. This is exacerbated as well-
   findings of administrative liability or criminal           resourced companies regularly fight tooth
   liability in these contexts result in fines and            and nail in claims against them. In addition,
   other sanctions which focus on penalising the              Global Witness has documented how
   company or individuals involved rather than                companies use a range of measures to
   responding to the victims.                                 criminalise and intimidate opponents.113

5. Administrative or criminal proceedings or
   decisions against a company must not                   Public Enforcement: National
   preclude civil claims (or vice versa) against          Competent Authorities
   the same company, or in respect of the same            A robust public monitoring and enforcement
   impacts. Further, a finding of corporate               system must be established at the EU Member
   criminal liability should be without prejudice         State level to complement judicial enforcement
   to individual criminal liability of directors
                                                          mechanisms. Key proposed features and
   and/ or senior managers where applicable.
                                                          functions for a national competent authority (CA)
6. Victims who suffer harm within or outside              are set out below.
   of the EU must be able to bring cases in EU
   courts against EU-based defendants.                    An overreliance on private litigation for
                                                          enforcement is undesirable and ineffective.114
7. The Directive must reverse the burden of               However, to ensure that public enforcement
   proof or establish a presumption of
                                                          mechanisms are effective under the new law, it
   liability in civil claims against companies.
                                                          should address the well-known shortcomings of
   In most cases, victims do not have and
   struggle to obtain the critical information            similar systems. For example, the EU Timber
   needed for their case which is held by the             Regulation (995/2010) provides for competent
   company. In addition to the major imbalance            authorities (CA) to conduct compliance checks
   of financial and human resources, this                 and enforcement functions however, major
   provides a major hurdle for victims seeking            challenges remain for implementation:
   access to justice for corporate harms.                 Authorities lack sufficient resources, knowledge
                                                          and skills to undertake the compliance checks or
8. Limitation periods for bringing legal
   actions must be extended to account for the            follow up on enforcement actions;115 and the
   complexity of the cases and other                      limited penalties and powers of these authorities

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remain insufficiently dissuasive forms of                 The new Directive should further provide that CAs
enforcement.                                              are required and empowered to respond to
                                                          and/or investigate complaints from third parties.
DESIGN
                                                          This will overcome a major shortcoming of the EU
To ensure the independence and impartiality of            Timber Regulation which does not require the CA
CAs, they must be established independently               to act. A reliable and effective procedure for
from government ministries, particularly those            substantiated concerns should also be included,
with mandates relating to the promotion of                building on the EU Timber Regulation model.118
business interests. This will help to prevent
conflicts of interest and potential bias.                 In addition to responding to complaints that a
                                                          company has breached its due diligence
CAs must also be adequately resourced through             obligations and/or caused harm, CAs must be
financial support and staff with appropriate              empowered to investigate on their own initiative.
training and expertise. To ensure their                   To ensure its effectiveness, CAs must also be
effectiveness, budgets and resources will need to         allowed to summon people to provide
match their functions and powers, and account             testimonies, request information, inspect
for training and capacity building of staff.              premises and sanction companies for non-
                                                          cooperation.
MONITORING AND ENFORCEMENT
Central functions of the CA will be to monitor the        CAs must be empowered to enforce due diligence
compliance of companies with the HREDD                    requirements through an administrative liability
requirement, assess the quality of their                  function. However as noted above, this must be
performance including through investigations              without prejudice to civil or criminal liability for
and enforce the HREDD requirement.                        harm. Together, such measures will support
                                                          better monitoring, prevention of harms and
Monitoring due diligence practices should                 accountability.
include procedural monitoring (checking
compliance with reporting requirements) and               SANCTIONS
substantive monitoring (assessing the quality and         To ensure the effectiveness of this enforcement
adequacy of due diligence practices). Experts             mechanism, CAs must have the power to impose
suggest that the CAs should review a sample of            sanctions for non-compliance or breaches of
reports on a regular basis, pairing this with a           standards and for harms.
responsive approach through which they carry
out additional reviews and investigations when            An absence of penalties has been shown to result
stakeholders raise concerns or complaints.116 To          in low levels and poor quality of compliance by
support this, it should maintain a list of                the private sector.119
companies with reporting obligations and a                The Directive should provide for escalating
public repository of reports matched against it.          penalties for non-compliance and environmental
The new directive should therefore require the            damage. This should include a range of measures
establishment of a reporting mechanism that               such as: fines (as a percentage of turnover);
allows third parties to submit complaints or              temporary or permanent bars on trading;
concerns. Article 32 of the Market Abuse                  withdrawal of the license to operate; inclusion on
Regulation (594/2014) 117 imposes such a                  a public list of non-compliant companies; bar on
requirement for States to enable reporting of             access to public benefits such as public
actual or potential infringements of the                  procurement contracts, export credit and public
Regulation.                                               finance; referral to the courts or prosecutors.

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Repeated failures should constitute a criminal            greater harmonisation between Member States.
offence.                                                  This is particularly important given that many
                                                          companies operate in multiple EU Member States
Such an approach is adopted in the Dutch Child
                                                          and therefore coordination and cooperation
Labour Due Diligence Law which imposes fines
                                                          between national CAs will be crucial to ensuring
for non-compliance which may escalate to
                                                          effective enforcement.
criminal sanctions in instances of repeated
violations.120                                            To improve legitimacy and effectiveness, this
                                                          body should have a multi-stakeholder structure,
FURTHER MEASURES
                                                          including with representatives of rightsholders
In addition, to help prevent negative impacts and         and regularly receive stakeholder and expert
improve outcomes for those negatively affected,           input.
CAs should establish an early warning system and
facilitate claims for civil remedies.
                                                          The above section set out our proposals for
An early warning mechanism allowing human
                                                          effective liability and enforcement mechanisms
rights, environmental and land defenders, rights-
                                                          under the new law. However, at present, local
holders and other parties to raise concerns can
                                                          communities that suffer the awful impacts of
help to prevent escalation of issues and prevent
                                                          corporate activities on their rights, livelihoods
abuses. These should trigger a quick response
                                                          and land are almost always left without recourse
from the CA which should reach out to the
                                                          against those responsible. Communities seeking
company to demand information and
                                                          justice face long, difficult and expensive legal
appropriate corrective or protective actions.
                                                          battles with uncertain outcomes. The following
Finally, CAs should be empowered to facilitate            case study provides one such example.
efforts of victims to pursue civil remedies in
court. Following a finding of non-compliance with                                                                           THE
due diligence requirements for example, the law           COST OF TAKING ON AN
should facilitate the use of such a decision as the       AGRIBUSINESS GIANT
basis for or in support of civil liability claims         In January 2019, a BBC reporter arrived at Sahn
against the company. This will help to afford             Malen in southern Sierra Leone to find it
remedies to affected persons and communities.             deserted. Thousands of people had fled after two
As noted above, a finding of administrative (or           men were allegedly shot and killed by state forces
criminal) liability cannot preclude a civil claim         in a dispute about land grabbing for palm oil. The
against the company in respect of the same or             soldiers were reportedly deployed to protect
related damage.                                           European agricultural company Société
                                                          Financière des Caoutchoucs (Socfin).121
EU-Level Body
The new Directive should establish an EU-level            The community explained how, shortly
oversight body with monitoring, capacity                  afterwards, the police and military carried out a
building, advisory and standard setting functions.        series of raids people were beaten and their
                                                          homes looted. Fifteen people were arrested,
This will help to fill gaps in implementation,
                                                          including the local MP, who was later charged
provide harmonised guidance for CAs and map
                                                          with conspiracy and incitement and ordered to
performance over time. Further, it will help to
                                                          pay a fine of 60,000,000 Leones ( 13,000) or face
ensure consistent, robust practices are
                                                          six months in jail.122
implemented across national CAs, promoting

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A woman called Mama Kobau told the BBC, "Two               between Cambodian company Khaou Chuly
soldiers came here and repeatedly hit my door              Development Co (KCD) and Socfin s Asian arm
They asked me to give them 300,000 Leones                  Socfinasia. It is now solely owned by
[roughly 65]. I told them I had no money. They             Socfinasia.130 More than 800 families were
took away my phone and asked my son to kneel               impacted by the plantation, with many evicted
down before they beat him mercilessly. 123                 from their land.131 Srong Prou used to grow rice
                                                           and was able to produce and sell 60-70 sacks a
This community is one of many in the Global
                                                           year. With the land she had left she could only
South that says Socfin or its subsidiaries were
                                                           make ten. 132
given their land without their consent, or that
they were coerced into signing it away. Countless          Angry at the crippling effect this has had on her
people have been evicted from their land to make           family, Srong Prou decided to join local protests
way for Socfin plantations, some violently. As a           against Socfin. As a result, she says she was
result, protests have been ongoing for years in            charged with destroying company property and
Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Liberia, Nigeria,                  provoking a fight, and was summoned to appear
Indonesia and Cambodia. Many have been met                 in court in 2009 - and again in 2017.133
with violence or arrests. 124
                                                           ELUSIVE JUSTICE
The Socfin Group is a major global trader in               Communities in Cambodia, Cameroon and
agricultural products, headquartered in                    Liberia have been trying for years to seek justice
Luxembourg and listed on its stock exchange.125            for the harms inflicted on them as a result of the
Its companies preside over 400,000 hectares of             activities of the Socfin Group.
land across Africa and Southeast Asia, much of it
palm oil and rubber plantations.126 That s roughly         Indigenous Cambodians have launched a civil
equivalent in size to the Chinese capital Beijing.127      case against the Bolloré Group in France, calling
                                                           for compensation for land they say was taken
Socfin is controlled by two European families              from them by Socfinasia.134 The case was initially
those of Belgian businessman Hubert Fabri and              delayed because after a court summons from
renowned French tycoon Vincent Bolloré, who is             France, Cambodian plaintiffs were denied visas
currently worth an estimated US$ 7.3 billion.128           by the French embassy.135
Through a network of companies registered in
Luxembourg, Belgium and Switzerland, Hubert                Cameroonian groups and international NGOs
Fabri and the Bolloré Group own 93% of Socfin s            have attempted litigation in France too. In 2019,
shares.129                                                 they tried to sue Bolloré for reneging on a 2013
                                                           agreement to improve the working and living
                                                           conditions around the palm oil plantations of
                          just lost our land, we           Socfin s local subsidiary Socapalm.136 This
lost so much more. Our                                     followed a complaint made to the OECD in 2010
                                                           cataloguing harms inflicted by the company
education and our                                          including contaminating local water sources,
future.                                                    blocking communities access to their crops, and
                                                           physical abuse by security guards working for the
Srong Prou, Cambodia                                       company.137
Srong Prou is an indigenous farmer from                    Socfin was found to have violated the OECD
Cambodia who says she lost her land after Socfin-          Guidelines and was presented with a number of
KCD began developing rubber plantation in 2008.            recommendations for making good on the
At the time, Socfin-KCD was a joint venture                damage done. But the case ran aground in 2017,
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after the Socfin Group refused to independently                          that Socfin is able to acquire and cultivate land
audit its operations and failed to fully comply                          because of decisions made by local officials in
with the remediation plan that had been agreed                           countries where the rule of law is weak.
to in 2013.138
                                                                         THIS CANNOT WAIT
                                                                         For decades, businesses have profited from
                                                                         human rights abuses and destructive practices
                                                                         that have polluted the environment and wrecked
                                                                         the planet. Those who have tried to stop them
                                                                         have paid with their jobs, and their lives. Global
                                                                         Witness reported that in 2018, 167 land and
                                                                         environmental defenders were killed for standing
                                                                         up to harmful corporate projects.142 That number
                                                                         rose to 212 in 2019, with the worst violence
                                                                         recorded in mining and agri-business sectors.143
Paris, France. 1 June 2017. Several dozens of activists gathered
outside the headquarters of Bolloré, where the annual Board of           Companies have also played an unparalleled role
Directors meeting was held to protest against the irresponsible
exploitation of industrial plantations in several African countries.     in creating the climate crisis144 and though the
LE PICTORIUM/ Alamy Live News                                            international community acknowledges that we
                                                                         are now at tipping point, this has not stopped.
Meanwhile, in 2019 indigenous Liberian                                   Tropical deforestation is responsible for
communities filed a complaint with the                                   approximately 8% of annual global greenhouse
International Finance Corporation, which had                             gas emissions, yet EU-based banks were the
previously given Socfin a US $10 million loan. The                       biggest provider of international finance to six of
60-page complaint listed a myriad of abuses                              the most harmful agribusinesses involved in the
inflicted on those who lived near or worked on                           destruction of climate-critical forests to the tune
the plantations, including that female employees                                                                .145
were habitually blackmailed and coerced into
having sex. A conflict resolution process was                            The dominant economic and business models
proposed but Socfin rejected it. Socfin has denied                       based on infinite growth and prioritising short-
that its security forces and staff committed                             term profits and shareholder value are wholly
gender-based violence. 139                                               unsustainable. We desperately need a change in
                                                                         the way that companies do business. The new EU
In the face of these struggles for justice                               Directive can help to achieve that by introducing
seemingly none of which have so far been                                 a HREDD requirement with effective,
successful the agricultural giant has fought                             proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for
back hard against attempts to smear its name.                            companies. It must make it possible to hold
Since 2009 Bolloré and Socfin brought more than                          companies accountable for their actions and give
20 defamation lawsuits against NGOs, journalists,                        victims of corporate abuse access to remedies
media companies and authors who had                                      that they have been denied for decades.
denounced the company s practices - including
France 2, Libération, Greenpeace and Sherpa.140

Socfin has rebutted criticisms made against it,
claiming that its aim is to further development by
ensuring that local communities and workers
benefit from its operations.141 It is also accepted

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